Tonight's lineup

Pierre, CF

Furcal, SS

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Martin, C

Gonzo, LF

Ethier, RF

Abreu, 3B

Wolf, P

And, before I forget, here’s great news for those of you not in LA (or even those who are). You can now buy a 2007 subscription to Dodgers Magazine. Go to dodgers.com/magazine and you’ll get all seven issues of the 2007 Dodgers Magazine, the 2007 Dodgers Yearbook (featuring Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrín on the cover) and two vouchers for $5 off Reserve Level tickets for your next trip to Dodger Stadium. It’s a $60 value for $34.95.

this is has to be so frustrating to laroche, and betemit. why bring up another guy to play that position? I personally dislike, even hate betemit, but why play abreu over him? and what about laroche? all his guy does is get on base. but i guess they want to make a bigger mess at third

If you saw how LaRoche has been hitting with the exception of the Atlanta and Florida series you would understand Abreu filling his spot. We need some timely hitting, that’s why we have yet another #2 hitter on the team. The problem is we didnt send down LaRoche and bring up Kemp and bench Pierre for a few. That’s what we need to do to maybe light a spark up JP’s butt.

I still have no idea how we all these can’t miss prospects and we block them, don’t play them, and don’t trade them for something along the lines of a David Wright, Miguel Cabrera, Mark Texeira, etc type

I have to believe that this move has just solidified Wilson Betemit as our full-time left handed pinch hitter (which is a good thing); at least until Marlon Anderson comes off of the DL. That said, if Betemit can maintain his current pace as a pinch hitter, then Anderson has (most likely) already played his last game in a Dodger uniform. I can see no other reason for this move.

I also have to believe that Ramon Martinez’s days as a Dodger are now numbered, as Tony Abreu can play all of the infield positions and the OF (not to mention Ramon’s .170 batting average). If Abreu can continue hitting in the Bigs as he has been doing in Las Vegas, then it’s adios Ramon (in my humble opinion).

Regardless, you’ve got to like the fact that Ned and Grady are doing SOMETHING.

Nomar should be moved down in the order before we even talk about giving up on him. Nomar couldn’t be a worse 3 hitter with this lineup. He swings at the first pitch almost 50 percent of the time so how is Furcal and pierre, if he ever gets on, suppose to steal when the batter behind him doesnt even average 4 pitchers per AB

At least something got done, and that is a good note. I’m not sure that LaRoche got what I would consider a reasonable opportunity to prove himself. We’ll see if Abreu comes in smoking hot and stays there at 3rd base, or if he and LaRoche trade off every couple of days, which would seem to give us too many infielders with an OF position clearly in need of improvement. I expect either LaRoche or Abreu will be gone back to Vegas in a couple of weeks, because one or the other is going to be redundant.

If you’ll forgive the Jim Tracy self-interview, Am I happy to see Tony Abreu getting called up and getting a chance? Absolutely. He’s a real possible star in the future.

Am I perplexed about why we’re doing this while we’re still experimenting with LaRoche? Yes, Andy’s been good so far, and might be the 3B of the future.

Do I want to see Matt Kemp also get called up? Of course–Matt Kemp will be the big bat that we keep saying we need, either this season or in the near future.

Am I totally confused that we’re keeping the prospect who has best demonstrated his ability at AAA (i.e. James Loney)? Absolutely. I mean, we all know that Loney should be the first basemen of the future. We know that he can hit in the minors (.380 last year), and in the big leagues (.343 after his second call-up last year, and over .400 this spring). So why are we trying to solve the 3B problem with every move EXCEPT the one that would put the best hitters in the line-up–i.e. Nomar at 3B and Loney at 1B???

Think about this–Abreu is a second-basemen who we have had playing 3B, LaRoche is a 3B that we have used in the OF, Betemit is **** who we converted to 3B, Loney is a 1B who we are trying to teach to play the outfield, and Nomar is **** who we converted to 1B. Yet, the one move we won’t make is to take the one guy with the most experience and most certain degree of baseball knowledge and talent–Nomar–and move him to a position that he has played with the Cubs, and which many shortstops move to (Cal Ripken, A-Rod, etc.) and which is involved in a lesser number of plays than a first basemen, so there is less chance of injury (despite the claims of a long throw).

I hope that Abreu knocks the cover off the ball. I am happy for the kid, and glad we have another rookie getting an opportunity. I give Ned/Grady et al. credit for protecting the kids during the off-season, and now giving them chances (even if there are more/other chances that myself and others here would like to see). But why not make the most obvious of moves???

I had a great post all typed up lastnight around 11:30 and wouldn’t ya know just to add to my frustration the blog was down… It had to do with Abreu coming up and who could go where to make room but this doesn’t make sence.except that Kuo was not a reliever so get him back on track for a 6/7th starter is good.Maybe they are really looking at the Glaus/Rolen aspects and just want to try to give Abreu the final shot before pulling the trigger and give Laroche another shot for next year or if Kent goes down Andy @ 3rd and Abreu to 2nd.In the immortial words of 53 ‘Just Win Baby!’ understand it or not I’m excited to see the game tonight with Abreu getting the start!

Everyone is wondering why so many infielders on the roster… it’s simple: Ned isn’t done tinkering just yet. There’s no way any GM in his right mind would have a club set this way unless he’s shopping talent or getting ready to trim some fat. Look for move(s) to happen throughout the week…

i stand by my belief that 3b is being used as a scapegoat for the offensive failures on this team, when clearly there are other positions we are not getting production from. this also furthers my belief that we WILL trade for a 3b, and nomar, gonzo, and pierre will continue to play everyday.

………and on a Happier note I just read the Rick Monday internet chat from today.Great job by Rick I grew up with my mom in love with him and Cey as her Fav. players.Without pointing fingers or saying anything about anyone Rick drops this Bomb.

I think it’s very important that a former player understand that you have to be a broadcaster. You can’t rely on what you did when you played. That’s not important. What’s important is what’s happening tonight. If you can draw on what you learned years ago, that’s wonderful, but our job is to broadcast what’s happening tonight with the Dodgers.

and thats why I don’t like steve lyons as a broadcaster.I don’t care either way if it was pointed or not he hit the nail on the head there.

grady is the worst manager in the league…well John Gibbons is pretty bad but Grady seems to not get whats causing the offense to not work. I know whats going to happen. They will blame the rookies and third base for our down fall and then trade them all away for a veteran. We’ll make the playoffs get bet again and then in 3 years instead of having one of the best young teams in the league we’ll have to rebuild.

HA ‘positivity’ maybe you need more than therapy. After that you should never call anybody an idiot again. The man is not an idiot, he has a different way of doing things. There’s a thin line between genius and idiot and it’s called winning. It solves everything. Grady wins, so he’s doing a lot right. Idiot is one thing the man is not.

We have given up what 29-30 runs in the last 4 games?Our strong point is pitching is it not? Granted our offence ****** wind except for the last 3 inns lastnight.But its not just the offence that is not getting it done SP.D and lastnight Bills…everynight its something differant to fail. The Team will Get it done as a team or will unglue as a team, Everyone has to contribute and everyone has to do well mgr/coach pitchers fielder and hitters…You Throw the ball… you catch the ball… you hit the ball…. or you lose the game…Its all a team win or its a team loss…
Get er Done!!! Lets Win 1 tonight Go Blue!!!

so the the guys who do the pregame show say ned says abreu was THE most talented guy he saw in vegas…over kemp, loney, whoeever…im not sure what that means, but he sure does love those middle infielders.

Martin is FOURTH in the All-Star catcher voting I’m not sure who he’s behind but I would assume Lo Duca, McCann and Yadier Molina. Needless to say if N.Y gets Lo Duca to the All-Star game Martin is screwed, because LaRussa will pick Molina or McCann over Martin, so we need to do everything we can to get Martin to the All-Star Game which he deserves!

Little indicated more changes are on the way. He said fifth starter Brett Tomko would be skipped in the rotation and was non-committal whether Tomko (1-5, 6.28 ERA) might be removed entirely. Randy Wolf will move up and pitch Sunday.

Little said Kuo will return to the Las Vegas rotation Wednesday night with the intent to build enough endurance to rejoin the Dodgers as a starter, if needed.

“He was right there [with Tomko] in the running for the fifth starter until his injury [in Spring Training],” said Little. “At this point in time, that’s where we feel he’ll be the most productive.”

Little said he might do the same with Chad Billingsley, another starter who has been transferred to the bullpen. Billingsley has had flashes of brilliance in relief, but he also was on the mound Monday night when five runs scored to cost the Dodgers the game. For now, with Kuo gone and the Dodgers back to 11 pitchers, Billingsley is the long reliever.

Kuo made only two Major League appearances after a Minor League injury rehab assignment and had a 15.43 ERA after beginning the season on the disabled list with a shoulder strain. He was called up to provide a 12th pitcher, which the Dodgers feel is not currently necessary with two days off in the next week.

“He deserves to be up there,” said LaRoche, who is hitting .233 with no homers since his promotion two weeks ago. “You can’t keep him down the way he’s hitting. If he helps the team win, everybody would rather have him in the lineup than me. I hope he doesn’t send me back to Vegas, but if it happens, I’ve got to start producing more. That’s the way the game goes. I’m excited to watch him.”

Little said he might use LaRoche in left field to spell Luis Gonzalez, which would take playing time away from fourth outfielder Brady Clark.

Today before I left work I asked the pastor for a prayer for our bats…..I’m not religious but seeing as I was already there didn’t seem to be out of reasonable request… Got great pitching and just enough bat on the ball so Thank You GOD!!!

Great Team effort tonight Johnny B is AWESOME Saito is AWESOME Martin is AWESOME Gonzo did a good job to hit Martin in who is AWESOME and Kent did good to get on base for ummm Martin who is AWESOME to Homer!But MVP goes to Wolf to bring it to the 7th with the lead He too is AWESOME! Gotta love ending a losing streak its really Kinna AWESOME!!!

What the heck you think be’s been doing? Not our fault the team can’t hit. He want Pierre batting 8th and that is not going to happen. Pierre deserve to be the leadoff hit on this team and that it. He’s not a 2nd place hitters.

Hey Patriotacts425 Lastyear you posted alot and made 5 points on a regular basis most on point and always something to think about this year you seem a bit surly and somewhat short… you lose faith in the team? Are you not Dodger true Blue thru n thru anymore ? what gives? Dumb posers posting getting to you? C’mon Don’t get all washed up on us your points do carry thought value on this board still! We Are all Dodger Fans and up n down carry one another through the Season STEP UP take a shot!

Same reason that he’s not going to bat 8th so get over it. I’d rather have him leading off then hitting 2nd and who care about ops? I didn’t like the signing at first but still not going to hate on Pierre then most of you are. WE going to be struck with him for 5 yrs anyway? I’m not even going to say anything about ince it a oen year deal.

Alex, I for 1 have been reserving my votes for the stretch run so I can post the best NL lineup votes and the worst AL votes as possible I’m sick and tired of the AL taking the AS game and seriously want a powershift back to the NL.Everything I see first not on the Dodgers site is all AL related all power rankings go to AL teams.There is no DH in LL of HS and that is where the AL should be banned and called cheats no HOF players worse then steroids….VOTE NL VOTE MARTIN shame you can’t vote Jeff Weaver AL pitcher…but players like him in the AL vote for em.

Same reason that he’s not going to bat 8th so get over it. I’d rather have him leading off then hitting 2nd and who care about ops? I didn’t like the signing at first but still not going to hate on Pierre then most of you are. We going to be struck with him for 5 yrs anyway? I’m not even going to say anything about Gonzo since it a one year deal and I’m also nor hater on him like some of you are. Stupid computer mess me up and accident hit post when I was still trying to correct my spelling.

Yeah that what I mean OBP? I got confuse but it late here. Maybe I’m confuse on this stats a lot. Why is this stats so important? Pierre been a lead off hitter his entire career and I don’t know why they won’t experience him in that spot with Furcal batting 2nd and Martin batting 3rd and Nomar batting 5rd and Gonzo 6th. I think with all those hits/runs/alot of sb’s that he’s average every season he would be better leading off and at least Furcal would take a pitch and won’t bunt as much as Pierre. I still hate this signing anyway. Is because people hate him for not hitting the ball on the ground and taken walk. Of course he’s numbers are way down this year. I’m not trying to start an argue I just want to know what the point for him to not be at the top of the order and everyone seem to wanted him batting 8th.

DD17 Yes JP needs to step it up as most in the lineup.With Nomar taking lead in the needs to Step up dept!!!! or step aside…why do you all think that the sox and cubs fans went south on him?Lastyear was a glimpse of what was and could be but life is life and nomar has definate attension disorders with new twins at home….New kids 2 of them and play baseball 100%?I seriously doubt we will see anything from him this year other then worst hr% from a 1B starter.Loney is starting to spark his bat and as we saw lastyear when it started it kept going thru the ML.Can’t bench him and who wants him now as a 3 hole hitter?Not to mention we can’t trade him without permission from… him.So Therefore Nomar Please get outta your daddy lounge get your stuff together and start doing your BEST to do the job that you are preventing a fully capible knowledgable and willing Kid who is poised and ready to do without you.

everyone wants him batting 8th because he’s the weakest hitter in the line-up.

First, OBP is important because if you’re not on base, you can’t steal or score runs. Getting on base is the best thing a lead-off guy can do because it gives the hitters in the middle of the line-up to knock runs in. Now, with that said, JP has the WORST OBP of anyone in the starting lineup

Second, outs cost the team valuable opportunities to create runs. No one creates more outs than Juan Pierre.

Bottom line is that JP hurts the team a lot more than he helps them. Batting him 8th minimizes the harm.

the lower you are in the batting order, the less AB’s you get…im guessing thats the reason why people want pierre moved down. besides the fact that his obp is lacking, he’s just not a good hitter right now.

what’s really hilarious is they have two leadoff hitters pierre and furcal, furcal who was great leading off last year, and yet we need to sign another leadoff hitter. Pierre is batting second, now first, and now there’s talk of moving abreu to the 2nd spot, while he’s playing third base, when we already have two 3b on the team and abreu’s natural position is 2nd. its confusing being a dodgers fan these days…

I think I need to go back and see what Lofton was last year. Wow Lofton was a .360 and this year at .333. I guess resigning Lofton to another 1 yrs deal wouldn’t be a bad idea again. I’m normally on the other board and most people would want Lofton back over Pierre.

Last 3 years stats for JP are inline with what he is doing now…. it gets worse next month…. But as far as Aug Sept and post season goes he is .325 or better in every month and .538 in the post season so you all need to chill on JP for now if we make post season and he still ***** the open the water cannons on him he is here to win a WS.geeze…..try reading some it does a mind some good…

When I take into count he’s been playing in Colorado/Florida not really big crowd there. I’m not going to say much about Chicago. I think the big crowd have some effect on him this year and he’s being pushing to much pressure. He can’t be this bad all year. I’m still not going to give up on him with this big contract he got.

wow i guess you can’t get there without the password thing. basically, he says what we’ve all been saying, which is that 3b isn’t the problem…nomar, pierre, ethier and others aren’t hitting their weight, and replacing laroche with abreu isn’t going to change that.

Abreu might go 0-11 to start but I fully believe tonight was jitters and he will hit better then LaRoche this year.Kinna hard to compete with the OBP. though Andy wasn’t pitched to very hard and he did a fantastic job of taking advantage of the opportunities.Abreu has been in the leadoff spot so he is usually looking at puting the ball in play and using speed to make it happen.#8 spot will be an adj. for him.

I agree with that JS Ethier is our best arm and he has upside Gonzo I fully believe was signed in the same capacity as Lofton lastyear and injury to Repko sidelined that yet again but the unwillingness of management to bring Kemp back when he was hitting .400+ in his few MLB chances this year after showing he is ready again is the most puzzling piece to this picture.Gonzo wants to Win and if he only plays 80-100 games to do it then so be it… He wants the TEAM to win as he has stated soo many times.If Kemp was good enough to make the team outta ST and did well then why isn’t he back?

Fisher928,
1) A lot of times these points will take a good little while to write. I typically don’t want to be putting them up in the middle of the game, and sometimes I can’t get to writing until gametime. That or I’ll get distracted, or maybe Internet Exploder or Firefox will bloat too much and I’ll have to close out the window (it’s even worse when I’m ranting on Blogger). But maybe I should do that. Thanks for the appreciation.

2) When I was buying something on Amazon, I included “Few and Chosen” to get free shipping, and something Phil Pepe says in the introduction has remained true throughout the history of the franchise. “To root for the Dodgers was to endure some of the most unspeakable, excruciating disappointments any baseball fan could suffer.” Historically, they’re a bunch of bums, but still, they’re our bums.

3) Have I lost faith in the team? I never had any faith in Ned Colletti’s ability to make a good trade, or to avoid panicking. I still hold that Grady knows what he’s doing, but is blinded by his favorites (note how he handles Lowe vs Penny, and Nomar vs Drew last year, even though both are liable to crumble at any minute), but he’s ultimately limited by Colletti (thus Lugo in the 3, Nomar still in the 3 even though he’s basically a singles hitter now). That’s making an assessment; it’s not retreat. I have not given up on the Dodgers, or lost faith in them. I remind you, I live on the East cCoast, and if I was going to give up on this team, I’d probably just go with being a Braves fan like the rest of my family. (As a sidenote, Alyssa Milano said that last weekend the Dodgers were giving her heartburn; how much has she been hanging out with Lasorda?)

4) I will say, and you’ll notice this from my posts, that I’ve become more aware of the various statistics, but this goes back to like last summer. Come on, I’m a frickin’ math major. The different stats really just carry a different philosophy, basically more Earl Weaver than Tony LaRussa. My dad’s not an O’s fan, but he always refers to the wisdom of the Earl of Baltimore.

5) I think Abreu will be alright. Matt Kemp went down swinging three times to Ramon Ortiz in his debut and made an error, but he went 2 for 5 the next day. I like that Little will platoon LaRoche with Gonzo, probably because Ethier’s playing RF well, and then the Dodgers can have 3 French guys in the outfield. I can deal with this, as long as the younger Dodgers aren’t lost in a trade for Scott Rolen, or for that matter Jeff Conine. I’m guessing that LaRoche and Abreu will compete to see who stays up once Schmidt gets back, whenever that is, and maybe if they both win, Ramon Martinez loses.

When Ned signed Pierre, he said that Dodger fans will love him. I’m pretty sure the emotion felt by fans for Pierre is not love. Please Ned ,tell us what have we fans done to be subjected to this for 5 years?

I think that was a great post by fisher928 up there. I have said this before i think most of you will be saying by the end of the year “Where would we be if it werent for Pierre!?” i know he isnt producing as much as he has in previous years, but heck this is still the beginning of the season and he still leads the club in some areas. I for one think he needs to have a couple sessions with Willis or Eddie to maybe find the reason why he is upper cutting on the ball all the time. I know he will find his way and he will be a big assest to the team come playoff time. O and all the stats flying around all the time, i know that measures a lot in baseball now but i dont think it carries any weight from year to year, i mean if it did carry its weight then we would have seen Tomko take it to the Brewers on Monday, but he didnt and guess what it does the same for every player out there. The game is based on how you come out everyday and not by what was previously done, let’s remember that!

Now as for Gonzo i really dont see him producing much except for the occasional glimpse of glory. I also would like the see Kemp in LF rather than Gonzo but that is up to Ned and or Grady to make that decision.

And while i am talking about Grady!! I have to say that i cant see how anyone on here could say that he is the worst manager in the majors!!!! are you kidding me, yeah your right he came in at the beginning of Spring Training with a club who had just been revamped with players he didnt really know and only turned the franchise around and gave us a winning season not to mention a ticket to the playoffs. sorry for such sarcasm but something had to be said i mean the guy is dealing with what he is given and what do you know his team is in FIRST PLACE!!!! If you dont like his line-up thats one thing and you can feel free to comment on what you would do with that but he is not going out there and booting ground balls or giving up go ahead runs or not swinging the bat well. Like i have said before we watch the major leagues people not some High School game these guys are being payed to swing the bat and strike people out. For some one to say Grady is at fault for the team play is ridiculous. I stand by Grady and Ned (i just hope he doesnt deal our talent for another aging veteran) and there decisions because im a Dodger fan! and dont get all stop being so positive, face the facts or stats for that matter, all those who say that must also remeber were are still talking about a game!

patriotacts425 – “ooh! The Dodgers could potentially toss Billingsley into the rotation for the series against the Nats in DC…”

Brilliant minds think alike (LOL!) – During BP at Angel Stadium last weekend, I hollered down to Chad Billingsley that he’d be in the starting rotation within two weeks. Sure, it was wishful thinking on my part, but in my heart, I know that it is a very strong possibility; especially with Tomko’s ineptitude (and growing ERA).

I have to admit that I was a bit uncomfortable with how badly Bills got lit up on Monday, but I wrote that off as him being a starter thrown into a relief role.

Also, as Fisher928 so accurately pointed out, I, too, have always appreciated your valuable insights here on this blog. Keep up the good work!

nice post patriotacts….i agree with your grady playing his favorites post, he rested jd drew alot last year, and one could make a point that nomar is more fragile than drew as evidenced at the end of the season nomar could barely swing a bat. he has not rested him much this season and I dont understand why either. i cant explain brad not being able to get into the 8th and even 7th innings, lowe just seems to have a bigger gas tank. jp needs to bat eighth with abreu in the 2 spot and furcal leading off, martin should bat third with kent following him, because they are really carrying us right now. bat nomar 5th, gonzo 6th ethier 7th and pierre 8th. thats the non andy laroche dream lineup.

why is everyone second guessing Billingsley now! Those runs he gave up were the first he’s allowed since april 27th. He hardly had anytime to warm up and he came in with the bases loaded. People have bad outings.

Yes i totally agree with you on that max! (for once lol) but honestly i think they will send him down like they sent Kuo down to get his stamina up and get some starts with vegas then make a decision wether to keep Hendy and put him to the pen or get rid of him in a deal which frees up some spots for Loney or Kemp or even better both! ( i can only hope) When Hendy is gone or in the Pen i think Bills will come up on top in the battle for the 5th spot and show us all what he is capable of doing for us again this year!

Hey pat25rod – There were two guys visiting from Taiwan sitting next to me last night. They said that they follow baseball in their country, but this was their first ever live MLB game. When Brox hit 97 (plus), I pointed this out to them and they could not believe that this was possible. They then asked me why all of the excitement when Saito came into the game. I’m not sure they understood everything that I was saying, but they understood that it was a good thing. To add to their memory and excitement of their first MLB game, I gave them a ball that I got during BP. They were ecstatic. It was a great time.

You just HAD to bring that up dahustlasbac, didn’t you! (LOL). If you look closely at the video clip, you will see that the ball actually hit my glove. I had it all the way off of the bat, but, at the last second, some guy shouldered me and tried to bare-hand it. I tried to recover, but could only get the tip of my glove on it before it bounced off of his (hopefully sore) hands. Needless to say, I was a little upset. The guy later said “It was yours”, but he never apologized. I had to endure some good natured ribbing (ya, right) from several people who didn’t see what really happened. Oh well – Maybe next time. Thanks for asking.

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